Livermore, CA Fire Regulations: Outdoor Burning (2026)

Livermore Municipal Code Section 8.08.090 sets three flat prohibitions in the same section of the solid waste chapter. Subsection (A) bars burning solid waste, hazardous waste, infectious waste or 'any other type of deleterious or offensive substances' anywhere in the City unless it happens in an incinerator of a type the fire chief has approved in writing for that waste. Subsection (B) separately bars burying any of those same waste categories, though the City Council can grant a specific waiver by resolution for a privately owned parcel when unusual or extraordinary conditions justify it. Subsection (C) bars dumping or spreading solid waste, recyclable materials, compostable materials, hazardous waste or infectious waste on the surface of the ground for drying, carving out only one exception: compostable materials used for home composting or mulching.

Because the fire chief's written approval is the only lawful path to any waste burning, a Livermore property owner cannot rely on a standard backyard burn barrel or open pit, even for yard debris, without that written sign-off; the section makes no allowance for small-scale residential burning outside an approved incinerator. The burying and dumping bans apply regardless of whether the land belongs to the person doing it, closing off private-property loopholes for waste disposal outside the franchise collection system.